Wait, are you saying Europe doesn't have censuses?

brainwad 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In my European country (Switzerland), it's mandatory to notify the government whenever you move. There is thus no universal census and also no voter registration. There's still subsampled surveys though, for e.g. economic data, that might come by mail (addressed to you by name, because they know where you live!).

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drysine 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Just like in the USSR

	▲	brainwad 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		As I understand it, in the Soviet Union you had to get government permission before moving. Whereas here the right to move is guaranteed, you just have to update your details.
	▲	Peanuts99 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Perhaps on that one axis. On the other hand Switzerland is probably about as far opposed as the USSR as you can get.

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generj 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Many countries effectively have a live registry of where people live, updated to within a few weeks. A door to door census isn’t needed because they can do something like:

SELECT a.province, COUNT(DISTINCT b.id_num) FROM registry a INNER JOIN national_id b ON a.nat_id_num = b.id_num WHERE timeframe = 2026-01-01 GROUP BY 1

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gpvos 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Correct. At least, not that I know of. On the other hand, when you move, you must deregister with your old municipality and register with your new one. The exact system differs a bit per country.